Worries
by Skyflapple
Summary: Lily is worried for their future as a family whilst the Potters are under the Fidelius Charm and James tries to find out what's on her mind.


This is my entry for Finals Round 1 of the QLFC Season 4. I play Keeper for the Caerphilly Catapults and my prompt this round was to write about James/Lily, including an example of foreshadowing and an example of juxtaposition. I am 7th in our team posting chain (second last).

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It was a chilly evening in late October and many of the houses in the village of Godric's Hollow had their lights turned off and had turned in for the night, giving the streets a rather abandoned feel. The Potter household, however, was far from deserted.

James and Lily Potter felt that, because they were wanted by You-Know-Who, they needed to make the most of every day they had with their son, Harry. This meant that most of their time was spent either in the living room or similar playing games, casting charms for his entertainment, or just enjoying their time together as a family.

On this particular night, the Potters were sitting in their living room together and James was using his wand to conjure brightly coloured lights for his son. The one year-old was thoroughly enjoying this, and was clapping his hands with joy and smiling from ear to ear.

Lily, however was not her usual self. James noticed the worry lines across her normally joyful face and whispered, "You okay?" to her.

Lily looked at him and whispered back, "Yeah, I guess…"

"No, you aren't okay, I can see that from the worry written so blatantly across your face."

"What?"

"Come on, Harry will be alright on his own in here for a minute."

"No, James I-"

"Come on!"

Lily sighed exasperatedly, took James' outstretched hand, and allowed herself to be led into the kitchen. Once they were both seated at the rickety kitchen table, James opened his mouth to speak. "Lily," he began, and then faltered before continuing in a rush of words, "I want you to know that whatever you have on your mind, you can tell me and I won't think any less of you, no matter what it happens to be."

Lily, taken aback, replied, "James, honestly I'm fine-"

"No, you aren't. I can see it in your eyes. You know I just want you to be happy…" He looked at his wife, with her fiery red hair standing out so vibrantly against her relatively pale skin, and thought about why he wanted her to be happy.

There was Harry, of course. No child deserved an unhappy family. Then there was all of the things Lily could do with her life once they got out of this mess. He didn't want her to throw away her potential because her mind was plagued with worries. But above and beyond, he wanted her to be happy because he loved her. He cared for her and would put her needs above his anytime.

He met her eyes, and said pleadingly, "Tell me what's on your mind, Lily. Please?"

Lily, unable to resist his attempt at puppy eyes, sighed, "Alright, I'll tell you." She looked her husband right in the eyes, and spoke, "I'm worried for Harry. What with the prophecy and everything, either he'll be murdered by Voldemort and we'll have to live without him or we'll be murdered and he'll have to survive without us! If we die then hopefully he'll be taken in by another wizarding family because I don't want him to go and live with Petunia and Vernon, because those two don't understand magic and won't give him the care he needs, not to mention their son is probably like his father and will bully Harry."

James, taken aback by the sudden flow of words, attempted to calm Lily down only to be interrupted by more worrying, "Lily, I'm sure Dumbledore will do what's right for our son-"

"But Dumbledore is convinced that Harry will have to grow up with blood relatives and there's nobody on your side of the family and only the Dursleys on mine! I mean, the man may be a genius but I think he's losing his touch a bit. What part of 'I don't want him to live with the Dursleys if we die' does he not understand? I'm certain that if we die he'll send our son to live with that monster! What does my sister see in him? His beliefs are stuck in the Middle Ages!"

"But, Lily, what about Sirius? He could look after Harry if we die - and only 'if' because it's quite possible that we will survive - and he'd raise our son the way we'd raise him…"

"But James, Dumbledore doesn't trust Sirius and although he's your best friend and he'd raise Harry well, he isn't a blood relative so he doesn't fit Dumbledore's criteria. Why is Dumbledore in charge of legal guardians anyway? Harry is _our_ son! And Sirius is his _godfather_!"

"Alright Lily, now you've had a rant, can we calm down a bit?"

"Argh, I don't even know why I'm ranting, I just have a bad feeling that something's going to happen soon - something bad."

James looked at his wife again as she burst into tears. "Oh, come here you," he said softly, and the couple embraced, red hair on black, and for a moment everything felt normal. When they pulled apart James said, "Go back to the living room make sure Harry's behaving and I'll make some tea."

Lily nodded and did as he suggested and went to find their son whilst James put the kettle on. Once the tea was made, he took the two mugs in his hands and followed Lily.

The family continued their evening as they had begun - making 'pretty lights' for their son, and they were very happy enjoying whatever time they had left with one another.


End file.
